Saturday saw Granville (my Fantasy nemesis for those new to these parts) almost conquer the top 200 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game. You can appreciate how painful it is for me to recall the events of such a day. Nevertheless, I still managed to wince through a set of Scout Notes from yesterday’s games…

Marc Albrighton’s bandwagon will be revving its motors having notched his second goal in consecutive games for Villa. His starting role looks assured right now, with Houllier preferring to put Ashley Young in the support role behind a lone striker. Albrighton has taken his opportunity and with 3 goals and 3 assists for the season, he is undoubtedly providing superb value at a 4.6 price tag. Albrighton’s lure will likely impact on the Fantasy appeal of Stewart Downing who contributed his second assist of the season to follow his 13 point haul against Blackpool in the week.

Wes Brown got the nod for United at right-back at Villa Park in the absence of Rafael who failed to recover from a dead leg. That left John O’Shea on the bench, indication perhaps that he has slipped down the pecking order when it comes to the right-back role. Rafael may well be in line for a run of starts in this position if he can relegate Brown to the bench on his return. Brown did little to help his cause having conceded the penalty for Villa’s opener.

Mick McCarthy started with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake up front with Kevin Doyle in a 4-4-2 against Bolton- a new sign of offensive intent which may well promise a stronger return of attacking points over the forthcoming Gameweeks. Matt Jarvis, subject of our recent Watchlist piece and in our Scout Picks, picked up a pair of assists and 2 Bonus Points as Wolves only just failed to come back from a three nil deficit to Bolton, losing by the odd goal in five in the end. Kevin Foley grabbed a goal and looks great value for a £3.9m defender.

Owen Coyle’s side continued their recent impressive run of form which has seen just one defeat in their last nine league games. £5.2m Chung-Yong Lee claimed two assists and Johan Elmander -passed fit after a virus- scored his sixth away goal of the season and picked up the 3 Bonus Points as Bolton -who have a great run of games on the horizon- stayed fifth.

Harry Redknapp shifted to a 4-4-2 at home to Blackburn, pairing Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch, with Rafael Van der Vaart to the right wing. Gareth Bale was the main beneficiary, grabbing a brace and an assist, plus the 3 Bonus Points. Van der Vaart failed to score for the first home match this season, but still bagged two assists and 2 Bonus Points to make up for it. Last night’s Knee Jerk article offers more on Bale and Harry’s Redknapp’s formation change.

Sam Allardyce went with 3-5-2 once again having seen it help gain three points at Newcastle in midweek. He abandoned that ploy mid-way through the first-half after Roman Pavlyuchenko missed his spot-kick, but Blackburn were no match for their hosts. Goals from Gael Givet and Ryan Nelson were nothing more than face-saving, as Allardyce’s side put a more respectable look on the scoreline, after being 4-0 down.

Carlos Tevez owners will have been frustrated by City’s failure to find the net yet again but can take some comfort from the striker’s performance. Tevez was his typical busy self, harassing defenders and buzzing around the area. On another day, he might well have seen much greater returns, as he had several close misses and one called back due to a handball. City have however, scored just 3 goals in their last 5 league outings – a shocking attacking return for a side with title ambitions. With three away games in four to come for City, Tevez owners will surely be feeling more than a little fidgety having seen their man fail to return from two consecutive home matches. City’s alternative attacking assets will surely continue to be overlooked by Fantasy Managers.

Roberto Mancini’s lineup saw a start Adam Johnson with Gareth Barry dropped to the bench. Aleksandar Kolarov finally returned to City’s starting lineup and got in a solid 80 minutes. It was his first start since opening day. Although he wasn’t utilised to a large degree on the left-flank, as City focused many of their attacks on the right, Kolarov gave glimpses of his anticipated attacking involvement. With his price dropping to 5.7 in the FPL game over the course of the past three months, continued monitoring of Kolarov may become a necessity as one of the cheaper routes into a City defence that has now posted three cleans sheets in a row.

Keith Fahey replaced Jean Beausejour in Birmingham’s only change from their midweek match at the Brittania. Centre-halves Roger Johnson and Scott Dann picked up 5 Bonus Points between them, and along with Ben Foster’s four saves, they helped Big Eck’s side chalk up their second clean sheet on the road this season, as Birmingham picked themselves up from that defeat at Stoke.

Avram Grant recalled Victor Obinna and Mark Noble to his starting line-up, with the latter returning from appendix surgery after just 12 days. Frederic Piquionne will surely relinquish spot-kick duties having notched from the spot in midweek.

Opponents Blackpool somewhat unsurprisingly rung the changes – a full eleven from their last game at Aston Villa – ahead of their goalless stalemate with the Hammers. Owners of budget goalkeeper Matt Gilks will need to keep their wits about them as the stopper was replaced at half-time by Richard Kingson and any news on a possible injury will hopefully be confirmed and shared through this very site. Charlie Adam also picked up another 3 bonus points for himself and heads the chart for the season to date with 16 already.

Newcastle made just two enforced changes from the side that lost at home to Blackburn in midweek as Danny Guthrie dropped into midfield in place of the suspended Joey Barton and Peter Lovenkrands filled Shola Ameobi’s injured boots. Newcastle lacked real penetration and continued in their fairly slack indifferent home form as they fought out to a goalless draw, this however didn’t stop Andy Carroll, the recent recipient of an England call-up, receiving the full 3 bonus points.

Andy Johnson started for the first time since January for Fulham, and that saw Clint Dempsey drop back into midfield to the right flank. Damien Duff was used at left-back on his return to his former club, ousting youngster Matthew Briggs dropped to the bench. Fulham arguably had the better control of the game but weren’t able to show that cutting edge once more as their incredible run of no away wins in the last 15 months remained unbroken for one more game.

Steve Gohouri returned to the Wigan starting lineup following suspension, surprisingly it was in place of left-back Maynor Figueroa. Team captain Gary Caldwell had to be substituted and replaced by his brother Steve after just a quarter of an hour with what looked like a knock to his knee, something which we’ll need to keep an eye on. Another substitute, this time Victor Moses who came on for Jordi Gomez at half-time, proved the cutting edge for Wigan as they beat West Brom 1-0. Charles N’Zogbia turned provider and picked himself up a standard 3 bonus points for his efforts. Moses, as a 4.6 midfielder in the FPL, requires monitoring if he can establish a starting role.

Two minor changes for the Baggies as Youssuf Mulumbu returned from suspension to replace Graham Dorrans at the heart of midfield while Marek Cech fell back to the bench to allow Nicky Shorey to slot in at left back. Peter Odemwingie occasionaly bubbled up top but West Brom put in a sub par performance by all accounts and made it just one point in their last four fixtures and will need to be mindful of their turnaround in results after their incredible start.

Roy Hodgson brought Sotirios Kyrgiakos back into his starting lineup at Stoke, with Jamie Carragher shifting to right-back which relegated Martin Kelly to the bench. With Hodgson berating the form of Glen Johnson in the press recently, it will be interesting to see how he juggles his resources at the back once the the England right-back is fit for selection. The mid-term potential of Kyrgiakos as a Fantasy asset remains in doubt until we know more, leaving Paul Konchesky as the only real consideration for those assessing Liverpool’s defensive potential over their forthcoming run of decent fixtures.

Asmir Begovic continues to maintain the starting role in goal for Stoke. The former Portsmouth keeper helped Stoke to only their second clean sheet of the season against Liverpool and, at 4.3 in the FPL, may start earning some interest. However, those considering the Stoke’s defensive assets must consider a run of four away games in the next six Gameweeks, with City and Blackpool the teams to visit the Britannia.

Kenwyne Jones, justified his recent Watchlist attention, by firing home his first goal in 6 league starts to take him on to 4 strikes for the season. Jones also benefited from the maximum FPL Bonus haul. He will now blink that little brighter on the radar. However, ironically Jones may take a hit in our Watchlist this week. With two consecutive home matches now passed, Stoke have that run of four away matches in six. Tony Pulis’ side have scored just one goal in their last three away trips and that has to be a consideration when assessing Jones, strike partner Ricardo Fuller or suppliers Matt Etherington and Jermain Pennant.